Bray Wyatt
Windham Lawrence Rotunda, better known by his ring name Bray Wyatt, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in WWE from 2009 until his death in 2023.
Rotunda was a third-generation wrestler, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda, and his uncles Barry and Kendall Windham. His younger brother Taylor is also a wrestler under the ring name Bo Dallas. Alongside his brother, he held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice while in WWE's then-developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. He wrestled under various ring names between 2008 and 2012 in FCW, and wrestled on WWE's main roster from 2010 to 2011 as a member of The Nexus under the ring name Husky Harris.
After returning to WWE's developmental territory, which had been rebranded as NXT, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt. Portrayed as the villainous leader of a bayou-dwelling cult called The Wyatt Family, he returned to the main roster alongside Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in 2013. He subsequently became a one-time WWE Champion, two-time WWE Universal Champion, one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion, and one-time Raw Tag Team Champion.
After a hiatus from August 2018 to April 2019, Wyatt returned with a new split personality gimmick, which saw him switch between the two characters of a Mr. Rogers-esque children's TV host named Bray Wyatt and a grotesque monster resembling an evil clown called The Fiend. He was released from WWE in July 2021, but returned in October 2022 with a new character that claimed to be his "real-life" self, though he gradually reincorporated his previous personalities in addition to new ones. In what would become his only televised match during this return, he defeated LA Knight in January 2023. He took a medical hiatus in February due to a COVID-19 infection, and died of a heart attack in August at the age of 36.
Early life
Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born in Brooksville, Florida, on May 23, 1987. His younger brother, Taylor, is also a wrestler who performs under the ring name Uncle Howdy in WWE. He attended Hernando High School, where he won a state wrestling championship at in 2005, the year of his graduation. He also played football as a defensive tackle and guard. Rotunda played at the College of the Sequoias for two seasons, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore offensive guard at the California junior college. He earned a football scholarship to Troy University, where he played college football for two years. He left Troy 27 credit hours short of earning a bachelor's degree after deciding to become a professional wrestler.Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2009–2021; 2022–2023)
Developmental territories (2009–2010)
Making his debut in a dark match on the February 5, 2009, episode of Florida Championship Wrestling, he would work under the names Alex Rotundo and Duke Rotundo. In June 2009, he began teaming with his brother Bo Rotundo, winning the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.On June 2, 2010, he joined NXT, a WWE show where a developmental wrestler, named Rookie was paired with a WWE wrestler, called Pro, under the name Husky Harris, with Cody Rhodes as his Pro. He was eliminated from the competition on August 17. Harris reappeared in the season finale of NXT with the other eliminated rookies and joined in on the attack on the NXT winner, Kaval.
While on NXT, Rotunda continued wrestling in FCW while retaining the Husky Harris ring name. In September 2010 following his elimination from NXT, Harris began a feud in FCW with Percy Watson when he attacked Watson while teaming with him in a tag team match, which led to Watson being pinned for the loss. When Harris and Watson faced off in a match, they were both counted out as they brawled out of the arena, which led to a no disqualification match that Harris lost. The feud ended in October, with Harris defeating Watson in a lumberjack match.
The Nexus (2010–2011)
At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4, a disguised Harris and Michael McGillicutty interfered in a match between John Cena and Wade Barrett, and helped Barrett win, forcing Cena to join Barrett's faction The Nexus per the pre-match stipulation, becoming members of The Nexus weeks later. He worked as a member of The Nexus, including when CM Punk became the new leader of the stable until the January 31 episode of Raw, when Harris was written off television after Randy Orton punted him in the head.Return to FCW (2011–2012)
Following the punt by Orton on Raw, Rotunda returned to FCW and in March 2011 adopted the gimmick of the hockey mask-wearing Axl Mulligan, but the character never made it to FCW TV, and Rotunda continued to play the Husky Harris character on FCW TV. In August 2011, Harris became embroiled in his brother Bo's feud with Lucky Cannon and Damien Sandow. The two brothers later teamed up to defeat Cannon and Sandow. Later, Harris voiced his displeasure of Bo's relationship with Aksana, and when Bo suffered a legit injury his title was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion, during which Harris defeated Big E Langston to make it to the final, a fatal four-way match against Dean Ambrose, Leo Kruger and Damien Sandow, which he lost after Richie Steamboat performed a superkick on Harris instead. Despite Aksana managing to get Steamboat to attack Harris again, he still won a triple threat match against Ambrose and Sandow to earn a match for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship against Kruger, which Harris lost when he was distracted with Steamboat's interference once again. As a result, Harris and Steamboat began feuding, with their first match ending in a no contest. Kruger later defeated the pair in a triple threat match to retain the title. However, Harris defeated Steamboat in a No Holds Barred match. After the pair continued to frequently attack each other, they were suspended for 30 days. Upon their return, Harris defeated Steamboat in a bullrope match to end their feud. On February 2, 2012, Harris and Bo Rotundo defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood to win the vacant FCW Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time. They successfully defended the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship against Antonio Cesaro and Alexander Rusev, but lost the championship to Corey Graves and Jake Carter on March 15.The Wyatt Family (2012–2014)
In April 2012, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, who initially associated himself with Eli Cottonwood in FCW. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT, Bray Wyatt debuted on the July 11, 2012, episode of the rebooted NXT taped at Full Sail University, where he defeated Aiden English. In July, Wyatt suffered a torn pectoral muscle and required surgery. Despite the injury, Wyatt continued to appear on NXT, founding a faction known as The Wyatt Family in November, with Luke Harper as his first "son" and Erick Rowan as his second. Wyatt had his first match back from injury on the February 21, 2013, episode of NXT, where he defeated Yoshi Tatsu. Wyatt suffered his first loss on the March 13 episode of NXT to Bo Dallas. On the May 2 episode of NXT, Wyatt lost to Chris Jericho. On the May 8 episode of NXT, Harper and Rowan defeated Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the July 17 episode of NXT, Harper and Rowan lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Neville and Corey Graves.From the May 27 episode of Raw, WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of The Wyatt Family. The vignettes showed The Wyatt Family's backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a lamb mask. On the July 8 episode of Raw, The Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane. The Wyatt Family continued their attacks on wrestlers such as R-Truth, Justin Gabriel, Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal while sending cryptic messages to Kane asking him to "follow the buzzards". Following another assault, Kane challenged Wyatt to his first main roster match, a Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam on August 18, 2013, which he won following interference from Harper and Rowan. After the match, Harper and Rowan again attacked Kane, carrying him away. Wyatt next targeted Kofi Kingston, who he defeated at Battleground on October 6.
Harper and Rowan lost to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series on November 24. The Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in a handicap match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15. On the final Raw of 2013, Bryan defeated Harper and Rowan in a gauntlet match so he could face Wyatt, but they interfered for a disqualification and attacked him until Bryan gave up and joined the group. Wyatt punished Bryan after they failed to find success, leading to Bryan attacking the other members of The Wyatt Family on the January 13 episode of Raw to signal him breaking free of the group. At Royal Rumble on January 26, Wyatt defeated Bryan. Later that night, The Wyatt Family cost John Cena his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Randy Orton, with The Wyatt Family attacking Cena afterwards. On the January 27 episode of Raw, The Wyatt Family attacked Bryan, Cena and Sheamus during an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against The Shield, meaning Bryan's team won by disqualification and The Shield lost a chance to enter the Elimination Chamber match. At Elimination Chamber on February 23, The Wyatt Family defeated The Shield. They later interfered in the Elimination Chamber match, which caused Cena to be eliminated.
After Elimination Chamber, Wyatt feuded with Cena, with Wyatt wanting to prove that Cena's heroic act was a facade characteristic of "this era of lies" while also trying to turn Cena into a "monster". Wyatt went on to accept Cena's challenge for a WrestleMania match, with Cena successfully resisting the urge to become a "monster" and overcoming interference from Harper and Rowan to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, marking Wyatt's first pinfall loss on WWE's main roster. The feud continued after WrestleMania XXX based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena's fanbase, which was exemplified by Wyatt leading a children's choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of Raw, with the children later putting on sheep masks. At Extreme Rules on May 4, Wyatt defeated Cena in a steel cage match after repeated interference from the rest of The Wyatt Family and a "demonic" child. Cena's feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback on June 1, where Cena buried Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win the match and end the feud. On the June 13 episode of SmackDown, Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose to qualify for the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship on June 29, which Cena won.
The following night on Raw, The Wyatt Family attacked a returning Chris Jericho. This led to matches between Wyatt and Jericho at Battleground on July 20, which Jericho won, and at SummerSlam on August 17, where Wyatt won a rematch despite Harper and Rowan being banned from ringside. The feud with Jericho ended on the September 8 episode of Raw, when Wyatt won a steel cage match by escaping the cage.